Richland Center, WI

Update from Martha Laning-September 14

Weekly News from Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair

Follow this newsletter to keep current on the events shaping our state and the work our party is doing to win in 2018 and beyond.

Republicans continue to sabotage health care

Brad Schimel and Scott Walker’s lawsuit to repeal the ACA and rip health care protections away from over two million Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions is now getting criticized by health care professionals themselves.

“There would be chaos in the entire insurance market across the nation”

“Insurers don’t like uncertainty…and this is the epitome of uncertainty”

“I don’t understand the end game here.”

This lawsuit makes sense to no one, not insurers, not health care professionals, and certainly not the millions of Wisconsinites who could be stripped of health care access if this lawsuit is successful.

Despite what Scott Walker may claim in his ads, he has a long history of undermining protections for folks with pre-existing conditions. In case you needed a refresher…

Walker has repeatedly cheered on GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act which would have repealed protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Just last year he enthusiastically supported the Graham-Cassidy bill, which undermined protections for pre-existing conditions, calling it a “winner all the way around.”

Walker toyed with the idea of seeking a waiver from federal requirements to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

When he ran for President, he pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act “on day one.”

And it’s not just Scott Walker; Leah Vukmir has long supported gutting protections for people with pre-existing conditions. She voted twice against a bipartisan effort requiring insurance companies to cover oral chemotherapy treatments.

Tammy’s latest ad broke my heart. While Leah’s been trying to make it harder for Wisconsinites to receive affordable, quality health care, Tammy’s been on the front lines leading the effort to stop health care sabotage with new legislation that would end the concept of pre-existing conditions once and for all. That’s why I’m proud Tammy is our Senator and why I’ll be proud to vote for her in November

Leah has made her whole campaign about appealing the Affordable Care Act; last week when Vice President Mike Pence visited Wisconsin to fundraise for Leah, he said Republicans need Vukmir’s vote so they can repeal the ACA and gut protections for the 2.4 million Wisconsinites who have pre-existing conditions.

Scott Walker, Leah Vukmir, and Brad Schimel — they’re not with us. But Tony, Tammy, Mandela and Josh? You can trust that they’ll fight to make sure every Wisconsinite has access to affordable, quality health care.

News from WI-01

I’m sure you all know Randy Bryce, our nominee for Congress in WI-01 who stole everyone’s hearts last year with his ad that sent Paul Ryan packing. Randy is a U.S. Army veteran, cancer survivor, and a union ironworker who knows the struggles of hard working Wisconsinites because he’s a working person himself. Unlike most of Congress, Randy’s not a millionaire, and he knows the issues that face everyday Wisconsinites because he’s faced them, too.

But do you know who Bryan Steil is, Randy’s Republican opponent? Bryan is Paul Ryan’s hand-picked replacement (and his former driver), and the rest? Well, he’s a corporate attorney and former Washington D.C. Hill staffer who has no understanding of the needs of working people in Southeast Wisconsin. He’s a rubber stamp for a failed GOP agenda that calls for massive tax breaks for billionaires and a healthcare plan that would leave thousands of folks in Southeast Wisconsin without coverage.

We can win this race. Polls show Randy and Bryan neck and neck, and national polling shows that Democratic support in the midwest is ballooning. Victories in Wisconsin will undoubtedly help pave the path for Democratic control of the House. Will you help Randy get across the finish line so he can fight for working people in Washington?

Check out Tony’s new ad!

It’s so refreshing to see Tony continue to talk about his positive vision for the future of Wisconsin while Scott Walker slings nasty attack ads his way. It’s clear that Walker can’t run on his record and has to resort to disgusting and dishonest attacks to distract from his eight years of neglecting Wisconsin. I guess he has no other option when he keeps getting so much bad press!

The people of Wisconsin know Tony has spent his lifetime doing what is best for our kids. He followed the law, and when a loophole in the law on teacher licenses needed to be changed, he worked with both parties to toughen the law so any offending teacher now would lose their license to teach. These type of gross lies are an insult to Wisconsin families and show just how desperate typical politician Scott Walker is to hold on to his power.

Column from Sen. Kathleen Vinehout:

New Study: Speed and Secrecy in Lawmaking

“The length of time bills were deliberated [in the Wisconsin Legislature] dropped significantly soon after Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators took control in 2011,” wrote investigative reporter Teodor Teofilov.

In the Governor’s first two years in office, average deliberation time of a bill was 119 days, compared to a 20 year average of 164 days. For comparison, during the 1997-98 session under Governor Thompson, it took an average of 227 days for a bill to move from introduction to becoming law.

The new study is a project of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. The center sought to answer the question Is Wisconsin’s democracy declining?….

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